Adaptive Modulation and Coding (AMC) gives the flexibility to match the modulation and forward error correction (FEC) coding scheme to the average channel conditions for each user. AMC promises a large increase in average data rate for users that have a favorable channel quality due to their proximity to the base site or other geographical advantage. Enhanced GSM systems using AMC offer data rates as high as 384 kbps compared 100 kbps without AMC. Likewise, 1.25 MHz CDMA systems can offer peak data rates as high as 5 Mbps through AMC, where 460 kbps was typical without AMC. AMC, however, does have a few drawbacks. AMC is sensitive to measurement error and delay. In order to select the appropriate modulation, the scheduler must be aware of the channel quality. Errors in the channel estimate will cause the scheduler to select the wrong data rate and either transmit at too high a power, wasting system capacity, or too low a power, raising the block error rate. Delay in reporting channel measurements also reduces the reliability of the channel quality estimate due to constantly varying mobile channel.
To overcome measurement delay, the frequency of the channel measurement reports may be increased, however, the measurement reports consume system capacity that otherwise might be used to carry data.
For these reasons, AMC is often used to provide a coarse data rate selection, perhaps based on a sub-optimum channel estimate as compared to a set of independent thresholds. Automatic Repeat request (ARQ) can be used in conjunction with AMC to ensure data delivery by requesting retransmissions of erroneously received blocks. The retransmission request can be ACK or NACK based. AMC is improved with ARQ because it can automatically adapt to instantaneous channel conditions. The combined AMC (or FEC) and ARQ design process-is very complex, involving FEC performance in the channel of interest as well as delay and implementation complexity constraints. Using FEC+ARQ together is known as a type I hybrid ARQ.
Even greater throughputs or error performance can be achieved with type II hybrid ARQ. This scheme, designated Hybrid ARQ in the remainder, is similar to standard ARQ in that it repeats all blocks that have been received in error. However, Hybrid ARQ improves on standard ARQ methods by saving and using failed transmission blocks at the receiver to increase the coding gain. The failed transmission blocks are jointly decoded with the current block in order to improve performance. The blocks that are sent by the transmitter are considered part of a larger code. Because additional parts of this code are sent only in response to the instantaneous channel conditions, Hybrid ARQ is also correctly known as Incremental Redundancy or Adaptive Hybrid ARQ.
There are several different flavors of Hybrid ARQ. The simplest flavor is code combining (also known as Chase combining), which simply repeats the first block for each transmission. The joint decoder is a block repetition decoder can be implemented as a block combiner, which can look like an equal gain combiner or max-ratio combiner, followed by a single block decoder. Because code combining is in effect a repetition coding scheme, it is correctly classified as a type II hybrid ARQ. Advantages of Chase combining compared to other Hybrid ARQ methods include smaller decoder complexity, smaller memory requirements, the ability to self-decode every block before joint decoding, and not having to specify maximum number of transmission attempts.
However, Hybrid ARQ methods that provide more sophisticated coding methods over the blocks than the simple block repetition code may offer larger coding gains. Hybrid ARQ schemes can be designed such that the first L blocks form part of a larger code. Construction techniques are available for many types of codes, including Reed-Solomon codes, convolutional codes, and turbo codes The L code blocks may also be partially overlapping, with some symbol positions repeated in more than one block. These positions can be treated with a symbol combiner similar to the block combiner. After L transmissions, the blocks are repeated, with the old blocks either combined with or replaced by the new blocks.
A self-decodable block is one that may be decoded by itself before joint decoding. Obviously, the first of the L blocks is always self-decodable. If the first block is severely damaged in transmission, it is advantageous to have the other blocks self-decodable as well. The term type III hybrid ARQ was used in S. Kallel, "Complementary punctured convolutional codes and their applications," IEEE Trans. Commun., June 1995, to refer to the class of Hybrid ARQ protocols in which all blocks are self-decodable. Since, as stated in Siemens AG TSGR1 #3(99)177, Mar. 22-26, 1999 types II and III are "minor variants of the same scheme", no special designation is required. However, the use of the designation emphasizes the fact that either only the first block or all L blocks are self-decodable, and that the self-decodable schemes require special care to construct.
Hybrid ARQ improvements can greatly increase user throughputs, potentially doubling system capacity. In effect, Hybrid ARQ adapts to the channel by sending additional increments of redundancy, which increases the coding rate and effectively lowers the data rate to match the channel. Hybrid ARQ does not rely only on channel estimates but also relies on the errors signaled by the ARQ protocol. Hybrid ARQ is even more difficult to design than FEC+ARQ, because of additional control, code construction, and decoder implementation issues. In addition, Hybrid ARQ also complicate the ARQ protocol implementation.
Turbo codes, which provide error correction gains close to the theoretical Shannon limit, can be used in conjunction with hybrid ARQ. Several prior art approaches exist, including code combining, punctured turbo codes and a priori methods. These methods, however, do not make the best possible use of the turbo code structure in fading channels. These methods do also not handle combining adaptive coding and modulation with hybrid ARQ.
Prior-art ARQs do not make the best use of the turbo code structure in fading channels. Additionally, retransmissions are the same size as the original transmission and the throughput cost for a second transmission is significant. Prior-art ARQs not have provisions for self-decodable blocks other than the first block, without having all the blocks self-decodable and the self-decodable blocks must be at least the same size as the information packet.
Thus, there is a need for a turbo hybrid ARQ that does not suffer from these limitations of the prior art. The invention provides a turbo hybrid ARQ that contains self-decodable blocks other than the first block, allows retransmissions of different sizes, and is better on fading channels.